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I know eggplant is an avoid for me, which is probably why I have no idea how to cook it, since I only taught myself to cook since going into this fabu lifestyle and I never make eggplant. BUT I was given two gorgeous eggplants today from a co-worker's mother's garden. My theory is, avoids are not avoids if they are given to you from someone's garden ;D. So, at first I thought, ooooh, I'll make a middle-eastern baba ganoush spread! But now I'm thinking, no, I should peel, cut up, and roast them in olive oil and spices, with ONION, and plenty of it. What do you guys think? Thoughts, ideas, suggs, advice, recipes, general eggplant-related banter?

Posted by: Jane, Thursday, August 4, 2011, 5:48pm; Reply: 1

Make eggplant "parmesan" but make it with compliant cheese like mozzarella or asiago (or both). Slice it and fry in a little olive oil and bake like a lasagna layered with tomato sauce and cheese and whatever spices, etc.

Jane beat me to the lasagna. Slice it into lasagna sized noodles, salt the noodles and put some paper towels on to absorb the water that sweats out, get some of that marinara that you posted about and some compliant cheese. I'd throw some slice mushrooms and frozen spinach that you've squeezed the water out of in it also. Otherwise google ratatoolie(sic?).

Posted by: deblynn3, Thursday, August 4, 2011, 6:27pm; Reply: 4

If they have seeds I think you are to sprinkle salt on those slices and then wash the off. Or they might be bitter. I believe the males (few or no seeds) don't have to do that. But I'm no eggplant pro.

Posted by: jayneeo, Thursday, August 4, 2011, 7:52pm; Reply: 5

yeah to what Deblynn said, but moving on.....I made a killer caponata a while back.....all I can say is google it. It's served chilled or room temp....as an appetizer....kinda sweet and sour with capers. I'd google a few recipes. But Eggplant parmesan is heaven too! 8)Enjoy, and hope you recover soon from your nervous breakdown, I just got over mine! ;D

Or bake them whole and make baba ganoush. Either roast whole garlic at the same time, and blend them together later, or make little slits in the eggplant and put peeled whole garlic cloves into them so they roast together. Then, after it's soft, you let it cool, mash it up, add salt and olive oil.

Or cut into cubes and cook with olive oil, salt, onion, and garlic in a frying pan or roast them all together. That can be eaten "as is" or mashed up, add egg and compliant flour, and fry or bake into "meatless balls" and serve with whatever you serve meatballs with. I used to bake them as a side dish, then make eggplant balls with the leftovers.

Or slice into rounds, salt, flip them over and salt the other side, then fry in olive oil, or lay on a cookie sheet and pile high with cheese, veggies, and other pizza toppings, for low carb "eggplant pizza."

Since you have 2 eggplants, not just one, you could try more than one recipe.

Posted by: Amazone I., Thursday, August 4, 2011, 8:23pm; Reply: 8

shnipple into thinny slices...grill em and drizzle some lekker olive oil on top & a bit seasalt... yummy ;) ;D ....(drool) and if you like a little bit of lime juice... :D

Posted by: angel, Friday, August 5, 2011, 3:14am; Reply: 9

Rataouille(sp?) Check out the cartoon movie. WE make it when we get the iltalian pack through the bountifulbaskets.org (see if they have a site in your area). Other wise find a recipe online. WE used to do a parmagiana too when I was vegetarian.

Posted by: 312 (Guest), Friday, August 5, 2011, 2:31pm; Reply: 10

I also say eggplant parmesan!!! You can slice it thin as all have mentioned, and if you want you can coat the slices in a little rice flour, salt & pepper, then fry in olive oil till soft. Layer them up with compliant cheeses, I do get mozzarella and parmesan on my swami....Oh and don't forget a good sugar free marinara, maybe some extra oregano somewhere in there too. Bake till the cheeses melt. I have made this with chicken pieces, tenders inside also, so good. Here's a recipe that I love.http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/chicken-and-eggplant-parmesan

What a lot of creative, fabulous-sounding ideas I received in response to my Q! Thanks, guys!

I ended up cooking the eggplant that very evening. I put it in a Corning baking dish, cut up, on top of a thin coating of olive oil in the dish. I added spices (garlic and adobo seasoning) and then I put chicken thighs on top of it so that the lovely "schmaltz" (chicken fat--look away, gcg and other long-suffering B's *tee hee*) would absorb into the eggplant from above while it cooked. I put sea salt and garlic on the chicken. Oh, and I cut up an onion or two and threw those in.

I then went to the dog park (!) and came back two hours later (it was at 325 degrees) to a wonderful aroma in the kitchen! However, I don't know if I should have let it cook even longer to absorb more liquid or what, as it was a little liquidy. That said, the eggplant and onions came out like a Thanksgiving stuffing, surprisingly (albeit a slightly runny one, as mentioned--it could have absorbed more of the liquid in order to be perfecto), and it was very good. If one could use breadcrumbs in there, that would have absorbed the excess liquid and been delish, but us wheat-free pups could use anything from sweet potato to broken up pieces of 100% rye toast to basmati brown rice. With a little tweaking, that would have been an awesome stuffing or just everyday side veggie dish.

I think next time I would try gcg's lasagna recipe, as the eggplant really comes out surprisingly "starchy", in a nice way--great grain substitute! Who knew? Cool.

Posted by: Jane, Tuesday, August 9, 2011, 4:05pm; Reply: 12

That's why you are supposed to salt it and drain on paper towels first. Glad it was good.

Last night I browned onion and portabellos in EVOO, then added veal scallapini slices, baby spinach and slices of a heirloom tomato that I bought at WFs....at the very end I added a little goat's milk cheddar and asiago cheese. It was seasoned with garlic and paprika.

That's why you are supposed to salt it and drain on paper towels first. Glad it was good.

Oh. Guess I should have waited until I got some responses to my post before proceeding, willy-nilly to just improvise, huh? ;) ;D Had I waited, I would have seen where you guys said to do that. Yeeeeeeah. My bad.

Last night I browned onion and portabellos in EVOO, then added veal scallapini slices, baby spinach and slices of a heirloom tomato that I bought at WFs....at the very end I added a little goat's milk cheddar and asiago cheese. It was seasoned with garlic and paprika.

Leftovers for lunch today....yum

:o VEAL? I hope it was humanely-raised veal, if there is such a thing! Dude, didn't you ever watch that now-ancient "60 Minutes" piece on how cruelly the baby cows are treated in order to produce veal? Matter of fact, no, I don't think you can humanely raise veal, for in order for it to be so tender and everything, they HAVE to keep the poor things in tiny enclosures so that they can't move, and fatten them up with grain and omg. Jane: political incorrectness ALERT!

Oh, the humanity. :(

Posted by: Kim, Thursday, August 11, 2011, 9:12pm; Reply: 14

When I was allowed to eat eggplant and tomatoes, my favorite dish was eggplant chili.

I would cube up the eggplant, season with salt, brown in olive oil, then assemble the chili however you like it. I always made a marinara sauce and put lots of beans in it. This could be vegetarian or you could add any kind of ground meat.

Yeah....if you're going to eat an avoid, make it taste good and enjoy it to the fullest! ;D Baba ganoush....oh my goodness. It's so good.

It IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just saying. ...Oh, calm down, peeps, I haven't had it in years. The eggplant I described in this thread is the first and only eggplant I've consumed in years. Like I said, I only ate it because it was given to me from someone's garden, therefore it is exempt from avoid status ;). Baba ganoush, to me, is THE best way to have eggplant, though. It is SO good.

I make a compliant hummus every once in a while out of great northern beans that is a similar type of savory spread...yet not exactly the same as baba ganoush. That said, if one experimented with other (other than eggplant) roasted, fresh veggies, such as red bell peppers, onion and squash, perhaps one could make a fairly decent, or even SUPERLATIVELY VUNDERBAR, alternative, eggplant-free baba ganoush.

Posted by: Kathleen, Monday, August 15, 2011, 6:19pm; Reply: 18

I just tried this over the weekend and boy was yummy:

Eggplant Pizza Base

Eggplant, about 1 pound, shredded. Sprinkle with salt then let excess moisture drain. Mix with 1/2 cup almond flour, 1/3 cup grated or shredded parm or romano cheese and 1 egg white. Divide in two and flatten into about 1/4 thick disks on greased parchment. Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes. Remove from parchment (throw it away) and flip disks over onto pan. Bake for about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and top just like a pizza.

Eggplant, about 1 pound, shredded. Sprinkle with salt then let excess moisture drain. Mix with 1/2 cup almond flour, 1/3 cup grated or shredded parm or romano cheese and 1 egg white. Divide in two and flatten into about 1/4 thick disks on greased parchment. Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes. Remove from parchment (throw it away) and flip disks over onto pan. Bake for about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and top just like a pizza.

Somebody please post this into the recipebase!

Hmm? top with more cheese, lamb sausage, fresh basil.....

Posted by: 14922 (Guest), Monday, August 15, 2011, 9:57pm; Reply: 20

The title of this post made me laugh LOL

Posted by: honeybee, Monday, August 15, 2011, 10:20pm; Reply: 21

Kathleen that pizza base sounds awesome, may work with zuchini or parsnips if not doing eggplant?

GCG's fig BBq sauce, basil and fetta... (drool)

Posted by: Kathleen, Monday, August 15, 2011, 11:24pm; Reply: 22

gulfcoastguy, I will get that recipe into the recipebase!!!

honeybee, yum, I bet parsnips would be great. Zucchini may work but I think it might be too "wet" and fall apart??? Or you could add a compliant grain flour instead of the almond flour to absorb the moisture???

Posted by: san j, Friday, April 13, 2012, 9:36pm; Reply: 23

Just reviving an Eggplant thread, because...it's such a wonderful vegetable. If you have recipes to add, let's see 'em. :D

Posted by: gulfcoastguy, Friday, April 13, 2012, 10:34pm; Reply: 24

Good because this year I planted 3 times as much eggplant as in previous years. I also planted the big type of eggplant versus the long skinny thai Green I've done for the previous 3 years.

Good because this year I planted 3 times as much eggplant as in previous years. I also planted the big type of eggplant versus the long skinny thai Green I've done for the previous 3 years.

Maybe you have specific plans for these? Ergo - change in type and number?

Posted by: gulfcoastguy, Saturday, April 14, 2012, 1:24am; Reply: 26

Well last year Thai Long Green failed for the first time. Also I found out that one of the people I gave seedlings to never picked any because they didn't turn purple(Thai Long GREEN, duh!) Most recipe are for the round to tear drop shaped purple ones and I like the descriptions since one is from Iraq and the other from India. Last but not least I am a B Nomad and an INTJ and we both treasure change and despise routine. What I actually do with them is secondary.

Well last year Thai Long Green failed for the first time. Also I found out that one of the people I gave seedlings to never picked any because they didn't turn purple(Thai Long GREEN, duh!) Most recipe are for the round to tear drop shaped purple ones and I like the descriptions since one is from Iraq and the other from India. Last but not least I am a B Nomad and an INTJ and we both treasure change and despise routine. What I actually do with them is secondary.

Oh, gcg - We all know that how you prepare your homegrown foods is quite important to you; you've usually considered this well, by harvest time...and shared/consulted with us, much to our delight! :D ;)

Speaking of India, have you ever made Bengan Bhartha?

Posted by: gulfcoastguy, Saturday, April 14, 2012, 2:49am; Reply: 28

The only thing really indian that I've made is biryani. Well I did make dhal before I knew how bad lentils are for me. I do use curry powder mixed with onions and yogurt as a marinade for lamb or turkey legs but that isn't true Indian. No Indian resteraunts within an hours drive. There is a good Thai fusion place though. Hmm? just spotted something whilst looking in one of my cook books. New thread coming up!

Posted by: deblynn3, Saturday, April 14, 2012, 3:03am; Reply: 29

I need to start some eggplants, I seem to have a craving for eggplant, zucchini lasagna